Larry Baione, 2012 November 07
Guitarist and chair of the Berklee College of Music Guitar department Larry Baione recounts growing up playing guitar and attending the National Stage Band Camps (also called the Stan Kenton Camps); his experience as a student at Berklee in the late sixties; his teacher and colleague Bill Leavitt; and playing in the United States Army Band in the early seventies. He also discusses his teaching methods, past students, and changes within the Guitar department and the college at large. He also describes various projects developed during his time at Berklee, including his book, The Practice Guitar Method.
Guitarist and educator Laurence “Larry” Baione (1949- ) first began playing guitar at the age of seven. He received the DownBeat magazine and Hartford Jazz Society scholarship awards to attend Berklee College of Music, graduating in 1971 with a Bachelor’s in music education. He later received his master’s in jazz performance from the New England Conservatory of Music in 1989. From 1971 to 1974, Baione played guitar in the United States Army Band in Washington D.C., frequently performing at the White House during the Richard Nixon presidency. After leaving the military, he joined the staff at Berklee College of Music in 1974. He served as Guitar Department assistant chair from 1980 to 1990 and chair from 1990 to 2018. During his tenure, he received multiple Outstanding Leadership Contribution Awards from the college and also authored the instructional book Berklee Practice Method for Guitar. Baione received faculty emeritus status in 2022.
